Thursday, April 25, 2013

Change

What does the verb "change" mean to you? I react negatively to it. It means disrupting my schedule, my thinking, and perhaps, my values. I don't want to change.

In Bible Study Fellowship, we are often asked, "How has this Bible passage changed your thinking?" or "How will you change because of this insight?" For some reason, my hackles go up. I've already changed. I've chosen to follow Jesus Christ - that's settled. I'm not going to change my mind. I've decided these changes must have to do with  my sanctification - the process that continually makes me more like Christ - nothing big, just tweaking, some major and some minor.

I remember a long time ago when I played Marion, the Librarian in the Music Man, my counterpart who played Harold Hill remarked, "You say your lines the same way every time." Wasn't I supposed to do that? I'd practiced them until I figured out the inflections and  nuances that sounded right and then delivered them.They were right. Why would I change them every time? Wasn't that an indication of insecurity, let alone fickleness or wishy-washyness? One must know what one thinks, feels, believes, and then move forward.

But I don't want to be what Christ called stiff-necked. I want to be open to His whispers: "Veer right. Edge to the left. Apply brakes. Don't look back." How about "Stop and rest a while." "Look. What do you see?"  "Listen. Hear Me above the chatter. I will speak to you in thoughts, plant songs in your subconscious, and help you retrieve Scripture when you need it most. Don't be afraid of change. I will not deceive you. I love You."

God told Isaac, " Do not go to Egypt. Live in the land I gave you." The situation was a famine. God told Isaac's son Jacob, "Don't be afraid to go to Egypt." God was moving the entire family out of Canaan temporarily.

Am I close enough to God to hear His changes as He directs my life?
Insightfully yours,
Paulita